The wonderful national endowment of Tyrrell vineyards are scattered far and wide across the length and breadth of the Australian continent, Hunter Valley however is where the Tyrrell wineworks call home. Fashioned from a collation of the finest parcels Hunter Valley Pinot Chardonnay, crafted to true Methode Traditionelle and vintaged under the Tyrrell cellars, a fuller, richer style of sparkler that only the auspicious Tyrrell vineyards can produce.

Tyrrell pioneered Pinot Noir in Australia when they established two inaugural acres of vine in 1972, amongst the first ever commercial Hunter Valley plantings. The 1976 Tyrrell's Vat 6 Pinot Noir was selected for the 1979 Gault Milleau World Dozen in Paris, after beating wines submitted from the finest vineyards around the world. Old Winery Pinot Noir continues the Tyrrell tradition of consistently producing wines which over deliver in quality and value.

The Picnic Point label depicts Sam Neill's grandparents picnicking on Karitane Beach at Otago circa 1919. The jovial chap with a pipe is Sidney Neill, established importer of French wines, among other things. Some friends, a blanket or two, a bit of lunch and a glass of wine, looks like life was good. Picnic Point is made for times like these. Sam Neill's entry level Pinot Noir, though by any measure, a praiseworthy effort. Each year Picnic Point release a limited amount of vintage, so you may find yourself on a journey bound for Central Otago to find it.

Earnscleugh Valley was the site of a gold rush in the 1860s, the industrious miners dug a watercourse through the valley which today serves to nourish the world's southernmost appellation of Pinot Noir. The Last Chance is a small scenic terrace, planted to a special Burgundy clone of Pinot Noir which yields a magnificently structured, generously proportioned wine. Carefully sorted bunches of hand picked fruit, treated to a traditional old world ferment in open vats and term of age in fine French oak. A lifted spice and dried herb nose before a palate of amazing density, length and persistence, elegance and poise.

Sam Neill's father was a major in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, he returned to the family wine and liquor business after retirement and inspired his famous son to take up viticulture. There are six hectares of Fusilier under vine, planted to deep alluvial silty gravels, on a steppe of rolling northerly facing terraces at the western end of Felton Road. A mix of stemmed grapes and whole bunches are filled to 3½ tonne wooden cuvee for several days cold soak and wild yeast ferment, followed by transfer to medium and light toast French oak barriques for eleven months maturation.

Sam Neill's perennial favourite, from the original planting of his homestead vines at the heart of Gibbston Valley. Established 1993 to a unique Burgundian clone of Pinot Noir, meticulously husbanded, First Paddock is one of the eldest blocks of vine in all Central Otago. Vibrant ruby hues, lifted perfumed bouquet of dark cherries and plum, concentrated herbal complexities, depth and persistence before a distinctive lengthy savoury finish. The articulation of Central Otago Pinot Noir complex yet elegant, generously proportioned, brimming with fruit, superbly structured, florals, violets and wild spice.

An assemblage of fruit grown to several elite Central Otago sites, the estate flagship barrel selection, from the Sam Neill family vineyards, normally a selection picked off Gibbston First Paddock, Bannockburn's Fusilier and Earnscleugh's Red Bank. A charming effort in Burgundian styling, unequivocally world class, artisanally crafted Central Otago Pinot Noir. Each block and clone are picked and fermented separately, the final wine is assembled just before bottling. Small batch? You bet, a mere few hundred dozen are made each year.

The cool ripening Pinot Noir is frustratingly difficult to grow even in the most favourable of climes. Consider then, the skill and dedication required to achieve such an immensely satisfying Pinot wine out of four different clones, all grown to sun drenched vineyards on the Riverina. Trentham Estate are well positioned to achieve the quality of wine that's essential for engaging the Pinot Noir enthusiast, filled with aromatic fruit and supported by supple oaken tannins, ideally alongside a rose pink breast of duck or succulent, crispy skinned pork roast.

The entry level Pinot Noir by one of Pemberton's grand old winemaking estates. As to the moniker, there really is a treehouse, it's the grand children's play area and it's set deep within the fabled forests of Salitage. A balanced and approachable young Pinot Noir of the finest provenance, offering excellent early drinking, highly compatible across a wide range of food styles.

The Totara tree is endowed with strength and durability, native to New Zealand, it has long been revered by the Maori, as well as early European settlers for its diverse qualities and usefulness. Totara's enthusiastic team are focused towards producing food friendly wines which express their regionality and are a textbook of varietal definition. Totara Pinot Noir is true to it's Rotorua origins, displaying a full bodied, earthy palate with layers of fruit and ripe tannins, just like the eponymous tree, solidly structured and built for longevity.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were English farmhands whose only crime was to establish a workers union in the world's newest nation, perfect stock with strong backs to labour as penal colonists, they served out their sentence on the site of Tolpuddle Vineyard. The property is now planted to blocks of fully mature vines, they face northeast and slope gently up from Back Tea Tree Road. Soils are light silica over sandstone, only moderate in vigor, the ideal terroir for minimalist yields of the most remarkably balanced and wonderfully intense Pinot Noir.

A bolder style of sparkling Rose, offering some serious complexity and varietal trademarks, bound together by a a semi-dry, and finely beaded creamy mouthfeel. Tigress are fresh and crisp, early drinking wines that aim to present the unique regionality of Tasmania. Fruit for the Tigress Rose is sourced from vineyards across the island, taking advantage of diverse viticultural conditions. A rich pink wine that's predominantly Pinot Noir, the Bay of Fires displays complex aged characters to complement its fine tannin structure.

The retinue of rich soils and microclimates along the length and breadth of the Tamar and Coal Rivers yield superlative Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. The Tigress beams with lifted, aromatic fresh peach and nectarine characters, a golden, buttery mousse and generous structure with vibrant citrus at the finish. The finest parcels of fruit have been brought together, treated to Methode Traditionelle, embellished by a small amount of reserve wine and finished with a tirage of liqueur doseage to achieve a well defined sparkling wine with vigour and panache.

A hand made Methode Traditionelle from parcels planted to superior terroirs on the slow ripening altitudes of Valley Eden. Vineyards were specially selected to grow the perfect fruit for this exquisite style of sparkling Pinot Chardonnay. Grapes are picked throughout the chill of night and barrel aged for six months on lees to infuse and enhance the magnificent depth of slowly ripened Eden Valley Pinot Noir complexity.

An assemblage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from three superior estate vineyards in Piccadilly Valley. Terre a Terre take a decidedly artisanal approach to Rosé, setting aside parcels of fruit, which exhibit the interest and complexity for an engagingly blush coloured wine, as influenced by the old world techniques of Sancerre and Bandol. Batches are whole bunch pressed into seasoned oak barriques for vinification and a course of maturation on gross sedimentery lees. Its comely Rosé de Provence hues presage an exquisite palate of fragrant summer berry characters and mouth wateringly, crisp saline minerality.

A matrimony between two illustrious winemaking families, Croser and Bizot, a pact between people of passion who know their Pinot Noir and take an artisanal, no expense spared approach. The east facing slope of Heysen Vineyard in Piccadilly Valley, populated with the meticulously husbanded Pommard clone, is closely cropped and rigorously thinned to optimize excellence of the harvest while reducing yields. Parcels of hand picked fruit are pressed into traditional one tonnes open top fermenters, followed by a course of age in an extravagantly high proportion of new French oak barrels.

The three home vineyards on Mornington's Ten Minutes By Tractor estate are all ten minutes by tractor apart. Each parcel within each vineyard is picked and vinified separately, identifying the best performing blocks to construct a most compelling expression of Pinot Noir. The palate is all about immediate, delicious fruit flavours. This isn't to suggest that 10X is a fruit bomb, or somehow simplistic, rather that its complexities are subservient to its drinkability, it's charms are within easy reach, rather than being tucked behind a veneer of seriousness.

The most accomplished winemakers assert that Pinot Noir is the grape and wine which speak most lucidly of the terroir whence they came. No other varietal is so articulate of its origin, the healthiest, most biodynamically balanced soils yield the most eloquent Pinot wines. Temple Bruer encourage their Eden Valley fruit to complete physiological ripeness, for the realization of the most engaging wines, patiently hand crafted and aged without the inclusion of irritating preservatives. The Pinot Noir of choice to match with cherry glazed duckling or tuna tartare.

Welcome to Te Kairanga, where the soils are rich and endowed with goodness, to yield harvests of the finest fruit. It is here that Pinot Noir has found the perfect home, under the cool maritime climes at the very top of New Zealand's southern isle. Martinborough yields much of New Zealand's most elegantly engaging Pinot Noir, intense lighter bodied wines with graceful cherry palates and winsome floral bouquets. Te Kairanga applies old world pastoral vinification techniques to the pick of Martinborough's fruit, achieving a Pinot Noir of great refinement and exquisite charm.

An immensely satisfying Pinot Noir in terms of quality, with a well rounded palate and distinctive varietal expression. The natural advantage afforded by the Adelaide Hills is the altitude, which provides cooler growing conditions throughout summer, a greater day/night temperature differential for acid retention in the grapes and a fully focused, intensity of fruit. It should be noted that the Yarra Valley parcel was entirely processed in the Yarra Valley due to phylloxera restrictions, under the watchful eye of the Taylor winemaking team.

The vision at TarraWarra has always been to produce wines of integrity amidst a pristine location of pastoral charm. It was a vision meant to be shared and TarraWarra can be proud of an engaging quality Pinot Noir that consistently receives widespread acclaim from enthusiasts and the national wine show circuit. Crafted with the same care and attention to detail as the estate flagship Reserve, parcels of Pinot Noir are hand picked and treated to a Burgundian style vinification, including cold maceration, malolactic and extravagant oak barrel ferments.

Brian Croser established vines on a foggy, north facing slope of sandy clay loams at Parawa, very near the extreme south westerly point of Fleurieu Peninsula in 2003. The chilly maritime climes on Maylands Farm are a challenge for the vineyard team but they yield Pinot Noir of extraordinary eloquence and exquisite pastoral richness. A week of hand plunging and warmer ferments are gently air bag pressed into a high proportion of new French oak barriques for ten months maturation. Its voluminous palate unravels layers of complexity before an august, satin finish.

An outstanding harvest of Dijon clone Pinot Noir, picked off the prestigious Foggy Hill vineyard, is assembled alongside choice parcels from superior Fleurieu Peninsula sites. Parcels of destemmed and whole buch grapes are gently air bag pressed into a high selection of new French oak barriques for completion of malolactic and a year's maturation. A generously proportioned Pinot to accompany full flavoured fare.

Kayena Vineyard makes a big, generous style of Pinot Noir, unique for it's power and weight to match game recipes as strong as heavily sauced garlic and rosemary lamb. A good balance of ripe fruit, tannin astringency and cleansing acids persist, thoroughly enjoyable right now. The aim has been to achieve an elegant and complex expression of terroir, a blend of several clones is called upon to weave a fine, textural style. Maturation in French oak barriques is showing through with subtle spiciness and just a little extra grip on the palate without dominating.

Tache is a French word meaning stained, the rare method used by Taltarni to fashion their sparkling Rose. The moniker Brut Tache can also be read as a metaphor for hard yakka, a reference to the effort required to grow quality grapes and make good wine. Taltarni assemble their finest fruit, picked off vineyards dedicated to yielding grapes exclusively for superior sparkling wines. Cuvée Rosé's pretty pink hue and elegant complexity are achieved by adding a dash of red liqueur to the tirage wine at disgorgement.

The noble cépage of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, finished with the inclusion of parcels from Tasmania's prestigious Clover Hill vineyard, a vintage sparkling of amazing textures and immeasurable palate length. Since inaugural release in 1978, each bottle of Taltarni Brut has been fermented and matured on yeast lees according to Methode traditionelle. Elegant and refined, articulating the sophistication and affable charm which have come to be recognized as the endearing and enduring sparkling Taltarni style.

A stylish wine crafted from the holy triumvirate of sparkling grape varietals, Taltarni were one of Australia's first wineries to get serious about quality effervescence, they are still setting the benchmark. Taltarni have continued the evolution, so very well endowed with exceptional quality fruit, nurtured exclusively for sparkling wines, grown to vineyards across Victoria's splendid Pyrenees and Macedon Ranges. An assemblage of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier of current vintage with a third of reserve wines.

A significant emptor of the Cote des Blancs, home to the world's finest Chardonnay vineyards, the noble House of Taitinger is one of Champagne's most ancient and most esteemed. Aged in bottle on sediment lees to infuse distinctive Taittinger opulence, it is eventually topped up with the traditional liqueur doseage to impart the House's distinctive full body and smoothness. An equal assemblage de cepages of Chardonnay to Pinot Noir, Prélude Grands Crus is crafted from fruit grown to the highest classified vineyards in all Champagne.

Home to some of Champagne's finest Chardonnay vineyards, Taittinger uniquely blends a relatively higher proportion of 40% Chardonnay to the standard Cuvee. Taittinger Brut Reserve is an assemblage de cepages of forty ancient vineyards around the Champagne apellation, matured to perfection at the chais de Taittinger. A delicate wine with flavours of fresh fruit, honey and light briochey overtones. A beautiful mousse enlivened by an effusive aromaticness, it is aged for three to four years in the Taittinger cellars until it reaches optimal maturity.